Miramar Parkway Extension To Begin

MIRAMAR — City commissioners awarded a $1.8 million bid Monday to build a new, two- mile section of Miramar Parkway that officials say will open the city`s western area to development.

Six bids opened Dec. 18 for the project, which will connect Miramar Parkway between Palm Avenue on the east and Flamingo Road on the west, ranged from $1.8 million to $2.2 million. The contract was awarded to Russell Inc. of Cooper City, the low bidder.

The four-lane extension will give motorists a direct east-west thoroughfare through the city. Without the extension, motorists must detour north from Miramar Parkway to Pembroke Road and then south on Flamingo Road to reach Country Club Ranches, currently the only subdivision in western Miramar.

Mayor Frank Branca said bulldozers should begin clearing the property about March 1. A nine-month construction project, the extension should be completed by November, he said.

Engineering costs not included in the bid should raise the total cost to $2 million, Branca said. He said the city had estimated the extension would cost $1.8 million to $2 million.

``Thank God, for once we came right on line with the estimate,`` Branca said.

The city plans to secure a loan to pay for the construction. Bids for the loan from four banks were opened Monday. Those bids will be reviewed by staff members, and a bid will be awarded at the Feb. 4 commission meeting.

The city will be reimbursed for the cost of the extension by special assessments already agreed to by owners of land along the extension.

Broward County has agreed to pay for landscaping, lighting and irrigation along the extension, said Edward Kreiling, city attorney.

Miramar is a 33-square-mile city, 70 percent of which is undeveloped. The undeveloped land lies mostly west of Palm Avenue.

Completion of the extension already has been cited as important to a proposed industrial park and residential community in western Miramar.

An 80-acre parcel southwest of Miramar Parkway and Palm Avenue has been designated as the site of the planned Miramar Park of Commerce.

Gannett Co. Inc., publisher of USA Today, has indicated interest in building a distribution and printing plant on a seven-acre site within the industrial park.

Construction is scheduled for the fall, and Gannett officials are counting on the Miramar Parkway extension to be completed, Branca said.

A 779-acre residential community west of Flamingo Road and north of Miramar Parkway also has been proposed.

Hollywood Inc., a South Florida developer, and Dr. Harold Dubner, a major Miramar landowner, have combined their property holdings for the development, which would include up to 2,300 single- and multi-family homes.